According to Parag Manere, Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) said, “Jagdish Kanani was arrested from his residence in Borivali. During the probe, his role has been established in the scam. We will interrogate him thoroughly to find out his exact role. We are also trying to find out if he has any involvement in the five illegal call centres in Ahmedabad that were raided last week.”

According to the police official, “During his stint at a call centre in Chennai, Jagdish had clientele comprising of US citizens and there he learnt the tactics of making reluctant customers pay their outstanding dues.”

Police sources said, “Jagdish grew up in Chennai where his father is a businessman. He worked in a multinational Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) for some time before shifting to Ahmedabad.”

The Thane Police also suspect the involvement of a son of a senior IPS officer from Gujarat in running these illegal call centres in Ahmedabad. Investigators found that the call centres in Ahmedabad, which were raided by local police recently resumed their operations soon afterwards.

The police are also on the lookout for the mastermind Sagar Thakkar and his sister Reema who are said to be the masterminds of the scam.

However, the police have not yet been able to trace Shaggy’s accomplices; Tapesh Gupta, Akhilesh Singh, Rahul Dogra, Jimmy and Haider. A team comprising of 160 police personnel, including 40 officials swooped down at the Hari Om IT Park in Penkarpada area of Kashimira, Universal Outsourcing Services at Bale House in Naya Nagar and a call center operating from a rental premises in Ostwal House near Shivar Garden, Mira Road.

The accused had aggressively demanded money towards tax defaults by posing as officials from the US Internal Revenue Services (IRS). During the raids, 73 persons were arrested and another 630 people booked under IPC sections 384 (extortion), 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating) and under relevant sections of the IT Act and Indian Telegraph Act.